By Lee Minji SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Yonhap) -- LG Electronics Inc. said Friday it has sold more than 1 million Optimus G smartphones worldwide since the flagship device's launch last year.

The milestone comes roughly four months after the South Korean handset manufacturer unveiled the 4.7-inch display phone that runs on Qualcomm Inc.'s Snapdragon S4 Pro processor.

In September, LG introduced two premium smartphones -- the Optimus G and the Optimus Vu 2 -- as part of efforts to regain its presence in the mobile market.

The company has released the Optimus G in Canada, Japan, South Korea and the United States and plans to release the device in China and in several European countries in the first quarter of this year, according to an LG spokesman.

In the third quarter, LG sold a record of 7 million smartphones globally, compared with its previous high of 6.2 million. Of the total, roughly 2.1 million were long-term evolution smartphones, according to the company.